


Solangelo Fluff

by ijay



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-08-13
Packaged: 2018-04-14 10:44:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4561563
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ijay/pseuds/ijay
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>taken from my tumblr. was craving some serious solangelo fluff and came up with this. enjoy : )</p><p>about these two idiots and the days after the war ends</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Bandages

  “Having fun?” Will had appeared, grinning. He hopped up on the table next to Nico. It was the first time they’d really had a chance to talk that day, other than when Nico first came in. Will’d beamed at him, and waved him over, and Nico for some reason felt a wave of hesitation at the sight, but Chiron thankfully saved him by putting a hand on his shoulder and steering him towards the other side of the infirmary.

  It was weird. Nico should’ve felt completely out of place. He almost did, at the very beginning of the day, where he didn’t know where to go or what to do, but one of the newer Apollo nurses- a little 9 year old named Ashley- gave him some instructions in a very important voice, and he followed them. And even though Nico didn’t really have experience in healing people- that wasn’t his area of expertise, exactly- he actually did pretty okay. He bandaged some feet and gave people ambrosia and nectar and didn’t kill anyone.

  It wasn’t a bad day, really.

  Nico scowled at the sight of Will, and then forced himself to stop. He didn’t really know why he was scowling. It just came out. Almost like he didn’t really know how to act otherwise. “Kind of unused to all this.”

  “To being around actual people?”

  The scowl came out again, but it had reason to be there, so Nico let it stay. “Being needed for Un-Underworld things.”

  “And being around actual people?”

  “I’ve been around actual people.”

  “Not by choice.” Will was still grinning. He took a bite out of his apple.

  Nico relaxed. This conversation. It was relaxing, somehow. “Actual people. Who needs those?”

  “I think you do. I think you’ve needed them for a while now.”

  “I didn’t kill anyone today.”

  “We should give you an award.”

  Someone was wheeled by, and Nico got a glimpse of the face. It was white. Deathly pale white.

  “Solace.”

  “Hm?” Will was still lounging on the table, taking noisy bites of his apple. His eyes were fixated on Nico’s face, and when Nico looked up, he forgot what he was about to say. His ears turned an angry red. Nico’s eyes darted away before coming back again.

  “Don’t you have somewhere to be? People to take care of? I feel-” Nico shuddered as he tapped into his senses. Death waves were rolling in from everywhere. “There’s so many dying-”

  “Don’t do that.” Will’s voice was harsh, snappy. “You still can’t be doing that Hades thing, remember-”

  “You’re worrying about me when these people-”

  “I’m on my break. Haven’t eaten in ten hours. Chiron told me to. And I wanted to see a friendly face.”

  He’d said those words before, when he was yelling at Nico the other day for not coming by to see him. Friendly face. He called Nico a friendly face. And the way Will said it, the way he threw it out there- “You think I couldn’t stand to see a friendly face?”…

  It just made Nico feel really nice, that’s all.

  Stupidly, Nico stammered out, “Then go see Lou Ellen.”

  Will stopped chewing, swallowed, and stared. He raised his eyebrows.

“There’s a _specific type of friendly face_ I wanted to see.”

  Oh, gods. Red was overwhelming Nico’s skin. It flooded his ears, diffused into his cheeks, settled into his chest…

  Will tossed the eaten apple away into the trash. “You’re right, though. Break’s over. Work to be done. People hurt. And-” Will wagged his finger at Nicos’ face, which was desperately trying to de-redden itself. “That reminds me- the Hades thing. Rest. Go to one of the chairs. Sleep in one of the beds. Do something.”

  “Will,” Nico rolled his eyes. “I’m fine.”

  “Or,” he suggested, casually, already walking away. “You could come with me. Help me out. I guess I could allow that, if I was watching you the whole time, making sure you didn’t do anything stupid. That or rest. Either way.”

  Nico was very, very thankful at that moment that Will had his back turned. Because instead of scowling-

  A grudging smile loosened itself on Nico’s face.

  
*****

  
  “You’re so careful,” Will noticed, his smile beaming. Any idiot could tell he was Apollo’s kid, Nico thought to himself. Will just lit up at certain things. Right now, he was grabbing Nico’s perfectly cut 14 inch bandages, taking a small pause to tease him. “You don’t need to be so careful.”

  Nico crossed his arms. Not that Will could see. He’d already turned back towards his patient.

  “I feel like when you’re handling someone’s life,” Nico said, a little grumpily, “You kind of need to be careful.”

  Will turned back around, rolling his eyes. “Nico. Cutting the bandages a half inch longer or shorter isn’t going to kill anyone.“

  He held his hand out for the other bandage. Nico glared as he dropped the other very cautiously cut material into Will’s hand, and Will smiled. His fingers brushed Nico’s palm for the longest two seconds Nico had ever felt, and once again, Will turned back to his patient- a young twelve year old boy who was watching them with weary eyes.

  That was the sixth time their hands had brushed like that that day.

  Not that Nico was counting.


	2. The Apples

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sorry if the chapters seem a bit short or long in different places it's hard to chop it up

  “Nico,” Piper had called. “Where are you-”

  Nico rubbed his eyes, trying to stifle a yawn. He hated mornings. He really did. He waved at Piper, not really answering her question, but she managed to rush up to him.

  “Very nutritious,” she glanced down at the two apples Nico had in his hand. He snorted in response.

  “One’s for Will,” he stated, starting to walk a little faster. “I’m late-”

  “Will, huh?” she said a little too casually. Nico almost choked. She swiftly changed the subject. “Late to where, exactly?”

  “Infirmary,” Nico broke out into a run. “Sorry, Piper, I have to-”

  “So that’s where you’ve been hiding!” she called after him. He ran a safe distance away before revealing a little smile.

 

*****

  
  “You’re late,” he said as Nico finally managed to find the room.

  “Good observation,” Nico snapped, feeling much more cheerful now.

  “Just in time. We were in need of some fresh, precisely cut fourteen inch bandages.”

  “Ha ha.”

  “But seriously. You’re late, and I’m pissed. It’s bad enough there’s not enough cots out here for you to stay overnight-”

  “Because cots are so comfortable.”

  “And then I have to worry because you don’t even show up like you’re supposed to-”

  “Nobody asked you to worry.”

  “And then I ask for supplies before realizing that- wait- I’m on my own. With nobody around to help. Meaning I have to get my own fourteen inch bandages by myself.”

  “Wow,” Nico’s voice happily dripping with sarcasm. “Harsh.”

  “And it’s not like I could leave and find out where you were, or anything, because this place is in huge need of heavy duty.”

  “I was sleeping. Isn’t that what you wanted? For me to rest? Doctor’s orders?”

  “So you were in your cabin. Even worse. I can’t go barging into your _cabin_.”

  “Why not?” the words were out before Nico could stop himself. The appropriate response should’ve been something snappy, or something along the lines of Will being stupid. Instead, Nico sounded like he actually wanted Will in his cabin. Which he didn’t. Or… Oh, gods. Maybe he did. Oh, gods. A flush flooded his insides. The thought of Will in his cabin…

  “Can’t come in unless invited or let in. Cabin policy. Unless you’re needed in a meeting. Or in actual danger.”

  “Huh.” Nico thought about that. He faintly remembered hearing a rule like that. And then, coming to his senses, he added, “Good.”

  “Also, the whole thing about no two people being alone in a cabin, but nobody really follows that-“

  “I thought that was only between a girl and a boy,” Nico blurted out. His brain to mouth coordination was getting pretty unstable around Will.

  Will stopped what he was doing- packing materials into some sort of first aid kit- and stared at Nico for a long time. Nico was hit with his gaze, started to blush, and then determinedly (and embarrassed) glared back. Will’s lips twitched.

  Finally, Will broke the silence. “You,” he shook his head in disbelief. “Are so dense.”

  He zipped the kit, slung it under his arm, and walked fast out of the room. Just before he disappeared from sight, his head and that blonde mop of hair popped back into view. “Come on, Nico.”  
  



	3. The Girl

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> holy heck this one is so long sorry about that needed some intimate bonding moment time I honestly feel like Nico'd be great with kids

  “This one’s pretty serious,” Will said, walking even faster. “She’s been drifting in and out. Emotional trauma more than physical. It’s going to be really hard for her to get adjusted if she-”

  He paused, as he glanced over his shoulder back at Nico. Just stopped, in the middle of people passing, the injured being wheeled through, nurses and doctors rushing back and forth. He had a funny expression on his face looking down at Nico’s hands. “What are those?”

  “Um,” Nico furrowed his brow, looking worriedly at Will’s face. “Apples?”

  Does he realize he has a seriously traumatized patient to get to?

  “There’s two of them.”

  Nico couldn’t help but retort, “Nice counting. Will-”

  “Why do you have two? Are they both for you? I didn't realize you were so _healthy_ -”

  “One’s for you,” Nico said slowly, completely thrown off balance. “I thought you’d want some breakfast. Or something. And I know you like apples.”

  There was a very pregnant pause before Nico added, “Um, Will-”

  Will reached down and grabbed one- the red one, with speckled highlights of yellow. His fingers lingered on Nico’s for a good four seconds, and it was only now, only this moment, that Nico finally allowed himself to hope. His mind raced, dreaming up scenarios, beautiful scenarios, that he didn’t think were really possible before now. Holding hands. Making out. _Being alone in a cabin._

  Will glanced up to Nico’s hair, his lips forming a happy, sarcastic grin. “Just woke up. I can see that.”

  Will transferred the apple to his other hand so he could properly shake Nico’s disheveled black hair. Last week, Nico would never let anyone do that, other than Hazel. Ever. But for some reason, Will seemed to be the exception to that.

  He seemed to be the exception to a lot of things.

  Nico’s pulse stumbled into a ditch, and he closed his eyes for a long second before opening them with a start. His mind started grabbing onto anything that could make him come back to reality. “Patient,” he choked. He cleared his throat, begging his mouth not to malfunction. “Don’t we have a traumatized patient to get to?”

  “Right.” Will shook his head, also. “Right. Thanks for caring, Nico.”

  For a second Nico thought he was talking about the patient, but then Will raised the bruised apple, grinning, and took a bite out of it.

  Nico gave himself another second to breathe, and then he took off after Will, who was already on the move.

  They rushed down to the room.

*****

  “Distill the nectar, please-” Will was saying as Nico entered, already in action. Nico’s mind was still a little sluggish, and Will had to snap his fingers in front of his nose. “As in, mix it with water.”

  “Yeah, I got it.”

  “Hey,” Will’s voice was very calm, very soothing. “Christine. Doing okay?”

  She was young. Probably the youngest at camp. Six- maybe seven- years old. Stringy brown hair and freckles, with chubby cheeks. She was sleeping, and when Will gently tapped her shoulder, she flew awake, eyes wide.

  “They let her fight?” Nico mumbled. Will didn’t answer.

  “Christine.” Will’s voice was definitely changed- “professional” mode. “Were you having nightmares? Bad dreams? How are you holding up?”

  Christine put her face in her hands and shuddered. She was crying, but clearly trying to hold it together. The sounds were muffled.

  Nico felt a huge wave of nostalgia and painful melancholy. Something surged within his chest, and he felt like doing something- anything- but wasn’t sure how.  
Will motioned behind his back for the nectar.

  Nico, forgetting that he had the nectar, stumbled a little and dropped his apple. He rushed for the nectar and handed it to Will, trying desperately to do his part.

  “War is hard,” Will tried to comfort her. An understatement. “Nobody’s blaming you. War… it’s one of the most awful situations someone could go through.”

  Christine still didn’t respond, her back shaking.

  Will sighed. “Here.”

  The nectar was handed over. She took it hesitantly, letting her face be seen for a millisecond. The eyes were angry. Her face was scrunched up. Everything was blazing until her hair fell over her face.

  Nico recognized the emotion immediately.

  The drink helped her relax a little. Some of the tension left her shoulders. But she still had anger hanging around her head.

  “Will,” Nico mumbled. He coughed, embarrassed to ask. “Um… maybe you should let me…”

  Will turned around, not really understanding what Nico was asking. When he did, his eyebrows shot up immediately. “You want to…talk…?”

  “I think… yeah,” Nico straightened up. “I think I understand…”

  Pain. She was going through pain. And Nico knew misery only all too well.

  Will stared for a little. “Yeah. Okay. Here-”

  He got up and motioned towards the seat, which Nico hesitantly took. He studied the little girl’s face before tensing- Will was still in the room.

 

  “Maybe you should…” he coughed again. “Um, you know. Get some air-”

  Will let out a snort of protest. He folded his arms, but Nico set his jaw, and he settled for saying, “If you say so” and marching out of the room.

  Nico sat with the girl for a couple of minutes, waiting for her to settle down into someone who can handle the conversation. She, apparently not being able to stand it anymore, looked up in a pout.

  “When I was ten,” Nico started out, almost wincing. Why did he even think she cared? Why would she ever want to hear any stories about his past? “I thought being a demigod was the coolest thing ever.”

  He laughed bitterly. He couldn’t help it. Whenever he thought of his past self, it was like looking at a different person. Like they hadn’t shared the same life, the same body… they just weren’t the same. But they were. The fact that so much changed in a single blow was something that still hurt Nico to this day.

  “I had all these magic cards. Mythomagic. It was a game. And the fact that all the players and pieces were real was like a dream come true- my favorite game was becoming my life.”

  She was watching him with the same expression he was afraid of seeing- so why are you telling me? He faltered, then swallowed and kept going.

  “Um. And, uh, then my sister. She-” something stuck in Nico’s throat. “She died. And it was because she went on this quest, for the gods. And I couldn’t handle it. I acted… terribly. I hated everyone. I hated everything- the gods. My friends. Percy Jackson. My sister. It wasn’t my fault, but it wasn’t really anyone else’s fault, and it just… tore me apart.”

  Nico kind of liked talking about himself to Christine. It was different than talking about himself to anyone his age, somehow. Simpler.

  “The dreams, too,” he added, carefully, avoiding her gaze, knowing that this was probably a relatable point. “The dreams were awful. Terrible. They had fears and monsters that I never wanted to see or think about again.”

  Christine was crying again. Nico didn’t put his hand on her back, or anything. That would probably terrify her, or make her feel embarrassed. He just kept talking.

  “It’s not fair,” Nico said, letting his voice sour. He didn’t hold any emotion back. His words filled with years of anger, bitterness, disgust, and… resigned acceptance. “It’s not fair that our parents gave us these lives, where we’re expected to be heroes and never give up and stand against all these crazy enemies. It isn’t fair.”

  Her crying was stopping. Nico could see her hands grip the side of the bed in fierce fury, her knuckles turning white.

  “I don’t want to be a hero,” she finally announced, like she’d been dying to say it all this time. She sounded like she was choking, and she turned to Nico with desperation. “I don’t want to fight anymore.”

  Nico, instead of debating with her, nodded. “I didn’t want to, either. I ran away from Camp Half Blood. I hid out with the ghosts. I cursed the gods, turned my back on everyone… And…”  
He didn’t mean to pause. He was just trying to get his words together. But Christine poked at him. “And?”

  “I realized that fighting for something you love is better than running away from everyone you love.” He looked at her. “Does that make sense?”

  She’d deflated. Her orange Camp Half-Blood was way too big for her, and her face was a very puffy red. “No,” she stated stubbornly.

  “It means you have a home here. And even though you have to fight, you get to fight with all of us. You’ll never be alone. None of us wanted to be a hero, either. Well. I don’t know if I’m a hero, really, but I do know this guy, Percy Jackson-” his breath caught on Percy Jackson, and he cursed himself. Maybe Nico was mostly over him, but Percy had taken up a good three years of his life. That can’t be erased in a couple of seconds. “Percy Jackson only wanted to get through school without being kicked out. He never wanted to be a demigod. He never wanted to be a hero. He wanted to be normal. But he loved camp, and he knew the gods were better than the enemy, and he fought and became one of the greatest heroes the world has ever seen. He didn’t want to, but he did anyways, and look at him now.”

  Christine was quiet. She’d probably heard all the stories about Percy. There were many to tell.

  “None of us wanted to be heroes. We don’t fight to be heroes. We fight because we love each other, and this is the safest place in the world for us.”

  “I don’t love camp!” Christine whispered, frustratedly, trying to process this information. “I don’t!”

  “I don’t, either,” Nico surprised her, once again, by saying. “It never felt like home to me. But… I’m trying. I like… I like the food,” he said lamely. She looked at him with sketpical eyes. He had to try better than that.

  “I like Chiron. I like the training. I like Mrs. O’Leary. I like…” he thought of Hazel and Reyna and Frank, who weren’t technically at this camp but were connected all the same. He thought of… of Percy. And Annabeth, and Piper. He thought of Jason and Lou Ellen and Cecil. And he definitely… definitely… thought of Will. “I like some of the people.”

  It was quiet. “If you try…” he offered her a deal. “I’ll try. And then we can try to love it together.”

  “I like the pegasus-es,” Christine admitted, her face opening up, timidly, grudgingly. “I like Capture the Flag. It’s like war without the dying.” Her face contorted again.

  “Does death scare you?” Nico asked, softly, feeling a little self-conscious.

  She nodded wildly, telling him, “I don’t want to be gone!” breaking off into little frantic sobs again.

  He waited for her crying to subside a little, and he said, “You won’t be gone.”

  She continued to hiccup, looking at Nico with wild eyes. “I will. I’ll be gone.”

  At that, she looked down at the cup of nectar in her hands and drank some of it, heaving. She shoved the drink at Nico. “More!”

  Nico waited a little bit more, looking at her with dark eyes instead. She put her face in her hands again.

  “You won’t be gone,” he said again. “You’ll go to the Underworld. And it’s not as bad as people think. Especially if you go there as a hero.”

  Her crying was softer now, and he knew she was listening, so he continued. “There’s this line that you have to wait in, which is kind of bad, but after that, you go to these three people and they look at your life. If they think you’re a hero, you get to go to this big paradise where there’s beaches and laughing and friends and sunshine… And you get to stay there forever.”

  “Beaches?” her voice was muffled.

  “Yeah. And music. Very pretty music down there.

  “Is it Heaven?”

  “Well… To you, probably not. But to some people, yes. It’s complicated,” he added, seeing the confusion on her face.

  “How do you know all this?” she demanded, crossing her arms. The tears have left, which was good. There was some relief in her body and her eyes.

  “Because I’m a son of Hades. He’s the Lord of the Underworld.”

  Realization dawned in her eyes. She’d heard about him before. Nico braced himself for screams, or backing away, but instead, he heard her ask, timidly, “Isn’t your dad real, real bad?”

  Nico laughed, and then thought about it. “You know-” he remembered his last meeting with his father, and how he was promised- no matter what happened- a place in the Underworld, at his father’s side. The thought, as much as he hated to admit it, softly warmed a small part of his chest.

  “He’s pretty scary, and not really the best guy you’ll ever meet, but he’s not terrible. Sometimes he’s… sometimes he’s okay. You probably won’t have to meet him,” he added, to reassure her.

  Christine breathed out and let herself fall back. She was still upset, but her panic had definitely gone down. She was more… deflated. Drained. Exhausted.

  But better.

  Better than being full of venom.

  Nico knew the feeling only too well.

  “I’ll meet you down there,” he told her. She looked up at him with a tired expression. “If you die, I’ll meet you down in the Underworld. Which you won’t, because you’re going to be a hero, even if you don’t want to be. I know you will. But if, somehow, you die, I’ll meet you down there. I’ll walk you and wait with you for a little bit, okay? You won’t be alone.”

  Christine was still for a second, deciding on how she felt about that. She nodded, tentatively, and then more firmly. “Okay.”

 

  Nico smiled, a little. He was also kind of exhausted from all of that. “Okay. I’ll see you later, Christine.”

  She nodded numbly, her brown eyes closing, pudgy cheeks losing some of its red rage. Nico got up, grabbed the first aid kit, and ran into Will Solace. Will wore a serious expression- something stony set his features, and Nico startled, having never seen that before on Will's face.

  “Outside.”

  Nico nodded, and closed the door behind him.

  “Gods, Nico. That was awesome.”

  “You were listening?” Nico tried to be angry. Will noticed.

  “Oh, please. Of course I was listening. I’m the doctor, remember? But were you listening to me? I just said that that was awesome.”

  “All I did was talk.”

  Will wasn’t smiling, or being playful. He still remained dead serious.

  “You’re a really great person, Nico. I don’t know if anyone’s told you yet.”

  Nico’s throat closed up, and he looked away. His fingers clenched into a half-hearted fist. Something like liquid sunshine flooded over his aching brain and calmed it.

  “You don’t like camp?”

  “I’m trying.”

  “But you like some of the people.”

  Something like discomfort was seeping into Nico’s chest. How was it so hard to talk about himself to people that weren’t six years old? “Yeah.”

  Will was quiet. It seemed like he didn’t want to push the question. Nico sighed, closing his eyes, and admitted, “Including you.”

  Will let out a small breath. It sounded like relief. “Good.”

  It was quiet for a while. When Nico finally opened his eyes, Will was staring at him.

  He held the stare, and his heart fluttered in a monstrous wave. Will’s eyes were really blue. That kind of blue everyone reads about but never sees on an actual person- the clearest, lightest sky, or the most pristine pool of water…

  “And of course you’re a hero, you idiot,” Will threw his hands up, the tone getting more lighthearted. “That might’ve been the stupidest thing you’ve ever said, and I’ve heard you say some pretty stupid things-”

  Nico laughed, surprising both Will and himself. “Okay, Solace. Good to hear. Don’t we have somewhere to be? People to take care of?”

  “Yeah,” Will shrugged, walking down the hall. Nico followed. “But it’s break. People are starting to clear out a little. It’s been four days, and everyone here for rest or broken bones have been scheduled to leave just around now.”

  “I’m here for rest. Can I leave?”

“You skipped two days. That doesn’t count. And I’m the doctor, so you’ll be here for rest for as long as I want you to be here for rest.”

  Nico made a noise in his throat. “You’re not even a real doctor-”

  “In the past week, I delivered a baby satyr, saved at least ten lives- including yours- and healed twenty bones. I don’t need a PhD to tell me that I’m a real doctor.”

  “You have the help of this thing called ambrosia.”

  “Modern doctors have medicine, too. I don’t see the difference.”

  “So you’re telling me that maybe I don’t need to rest. Maybe Will Solace just wants some extra help around his station-”

  They trudged into an open room, where supplies littered the tables, and Will whipped around. Startled, Nico stopped, and Will grabbed Nico’s hand.

  His pulse immediately started going a million miles an hour.

  “I can feel darkness in your palm,” Will stated. His hand was hand really, really warm. Lazy sun trudged into Nico’s fingers. “It’s not as uncontrolled as it was four days ago, but mornings are still especially hard to get up from, huh?”

  “That doesn’t mean anything,” Nico said immediately, trying to ignore the hands-touching thing. “It’s always hard to get up in the mornings.”

  “And your dreams have probably been messy, too. The images aren’t clear. Something’s sucking you in.”

  Nico stared. Will shrugged, suddenly a little self-concious. “That’s what happens when darkness starts to overtake you.”

  They were still holding hands. Nico started to pull away, in embarrassment, but then stopped. Will kept holding, his brow furrowed. Nico looked down, his face twitching, trying to figure out whether to smile or frown-

  Somebody rushed in, and Nico jumped like he’d just been sparked. His hand flew away from Will’s, and he turned away, trying to look like he was busy with something, his eyes focusing on the white pillow in front of him. When he looked back, Will looked caught between laughing and letting his face to fall. The girl- Katie Gardner- stopped for a second, blinked a couple of times, began to speak, and then shook her head. She grabbed her things and walked quickly off.

  Silence and thoughts and feelings filled the air, and something was floating in Nico’s chest-

  “So!” Nico tried to say, jamming his hands into his pockets. “Break.”

  “Break,” Will repeated, a funny expression on his face. He sounded a little crestfallen. Nico swallowed.

  “We should… I mean. We…”

  “Oh, right. You haven’t eaten. I have your apple… You dropped it…” Will held it out, and Nico took it quickly, almost jumping at the slightest touch of fingers. His ears were on fire.

  “Thanks.” Nico’s eyes were fixed on the apple. It was bruised, and very dark red.

  “So… Aren’t you going to eat it?”

  Nico laughed nervously. “Yeah. Yeah. Um, I don’t really know why I got this, actually. I don’t really think I like apples that much. I just needed to grab something today and I wanted to get you something-”

  Will rolled his eyes at that. “Nico.”

  “What now?”

  “Let’s get some hamburgers. Or chips. Or something. Whatever you like. Come on.”

  Nico smiled.


	4. The Lake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> super super short sorry about that

  “I’m off rest,” Nico announced to Will, a week later. Will raised his eyebrows.

  “I’m not sure that’s for you to decide.”

  “Well, I’ve been paying attention, and my dreams are clearer. So I’m off rest for now.“

  Will began to protest, and Nico interrupted him, his heart threatening to take over his brain. If this didn’t work, if he’d just been misinterpreting the signs, if this wasn’t what Nico thought it was, he wasn’t sure what he’d do.

  “I’m going down to the campfire.” He looked for expressions in Will’s face. All he could see was a little surprise. “And you should come.”

  And a beat passed, and Nico looked down, and he heard Will say, “You like the campfire?”

  Will was grinning. Any light that illuminated the air licked his hair and the curves of his face. Something fluttered in Nico’s chest. “No,” Nico said truthfully. “Not really, actually. But, you know. I was thinking about doing something different. Trying it out.”

  “How about-” Will grabbed his navy jacket and began to pull it on. “Instead, we go down to the lake.”

  “The lake.”

  “Yes. The lake.”

  “What’s at the lake?”

  “I don’t know. Scenery. Water. Moonlight. It’s nice.”

  “Huh.”

  “You’d probably like it better than the campfire. Just saying.”

  “Yeah, yeah. Okay. Let’s go down to the _lake_.”

  “That’s the spirit.”


	5. The Night

  It was nice. It was even… Oh, gods. It was even romantic-nice. Moonlight. Water. Scenery.

  And Will… it seemed like Will…

  But Nico wasn’t completely sure… He wasn’t totally good at all this…

  And if he was wrong…

  Gods. It was all so complicated. He kind of wished he could crawl into bed and forget this. Everything seemed so hopeless.

  But hope kept creeping in, which kept him going. For one, Will seemed exuberant. While walking over, his pace was bouncy and he was whistling and he kept grinning down at Nico.

  “It’s a nice night” is what he said.

  They were about to sit down, in plain sight, at the edge of the canoe docks, but Nico said, quickly, “Can we, uh, go over there instead?”

  Will, looking over to the curve scattered with trees, faltered a little. “Oh. Sure. I guess.”

  And so they sat.

  The second Nico’s butt hit the ground, he wanted to leave. This was due to Will cheerfully deciding to say, “So. I heard you had a crush on Percy Jackson.”

  Nico responding by cussing.

  “Whoa. Whoa. Nico. It’s okay-”

  Nico couldn’t form words. His ribcage was all clenched up. He knew his friends knew, but he didn’t think they’d tell anyone. And the way Will threw it out there… Like it hadn’t been a weight on his chest- the sky’s weight, practically- for years… He couldn’t… He couldn’t…

  “Breathe. Nico. Nico!”

  Nico breathed. Forcefully.

  “I…” Will was, too, at a loss of words. _Good,_  Nico couldn’t help but thinking, halfheartedly. _Serves him right._ “Sorry. I wasn’t really thinking when I said that. Um, I’m guessing it’s still kind of a pretty big deal to you-”

  “Kind of?” Nico inhaled, eyes wild.

  “Whoa. I just… It’s cool. It’s cool to me, that’s all. I didn’t realize you didn’t think it was, too-”

  “It’s cool to you?” Nico looked at him like he was crazy. “That I liked Percy Jackson?”

  Will put his head in his hands. “Oh, gods. No. No. No. That isn’t what I meant. This isn’t how I wanted-”

  Nico was left… speechless. To say the least. His body was rigid. Every sound he was trying to make died on his tongue. He wasn’t even sure he remembered how he got to the lake in the first place. He wanted to throw up.

  And in general, his feelings were just… very, very confused.

  “Okay.” Will said after a while, trying for a very sheepish, apologetic smile. “Okay. Let’s start this over.”

  It was Nico’s turn to raise his eyebrows. Something was clenching inside and he wasn’t totally sure what it was.

  “If you want to talk about it, I want to talk about it. If you don’t, then we…. we’ll forget this ever happened. Okay?"

  “Um,” Nico said, his voice a few octaves higher than normal. He brought it down. “Um. How did you find about… that?”

  Will, for some reason, wasn’t really making eye contact. “That. Oh. I kind of, ah. Overheard you talking to Percy and Annabeth.”

  Nico stared. “You were on the other side of the hill. How did you-”

  “I was listening.”

  “Wow, thanks. That explains a lot.”

  “I have good hearing. Most of Apollo’s children do. Mostly for perfect pitch, and everything, but you can use it for wide-range sounds... It’s just… most of the time, we don’t put it to use. Like, you have to… kind of… _try_ , if you want to use it.”

  “So… you _meant_ to eavesdrop.”

  There was a pocket of silence.

  “Uh,” Will finally said.

  Nico let out some air, in disbelief.

  “Do you…” Will hesitated. “Still like him? Is that why it’s a big deal to you? I thought you told him-”

  “I just,” Nico said, bringing his hands to his forehead, his voice rising. “Don’t really want the whole camp knowing that I’m-”

  He couldn’t even say it.

  “It’s not the whole camp. It’s me. None of your friends have told anyone, all right? And I don’t want to stop being friends with you, okay? It doesn’t matter to me.”

  It was a blow more than relief. Friends. Doesn’t matter. What Nico wanted was contradicting itself all over the place. Will didn’t want to stop being friends, which was good. But he didn’t want to stop being friends, which was bad. It was the friends thing. Was that what all of this was? The brushing hands? The friendly face remarks? That was Will and Nico “being friends”? It all had seemed so…

  Way more than friendly.

  “Nico. Are you okay?”

  “What? I…” Nico swallowed everything back. If Will just wanted to be friends… He was fine with that. He’d just have to move on. He learned that with Percy, right? Much better to be friends with someone than secretly pine for the guy when he knew it was hopeless-

  “Yeah. I think I’m going to be okay.”

  “Good. I’m glad.” Will smiled, a little relieved. Nico turned away and faced the water. This really didn’t seem like the greatest idea after all. Things were quiet for a while.

  “Do you still like him?” the question was soft. Nico raised his head, barely.

  “What?”

  “Percy Jackson. You never really answered the question. Do you still… like him?“

  Something stilled inside of Nico’s brain. Why would Will ask, unless he- “I don’t think so. I think… I just really, really liked the idea. It was a long time, and it’s not going away in a second, but…” Nico had no idea why he was rambling so much. His hands were sweaty, all of a sudden, and his mouth was dry. “But, no. I don’t like him.”

  “Hmm.” Nico looked up, and Will was grinning.

  “Glad that I amused you,” Nico muttered, annoyed and a little hurt, and Will laughed out loud.

  “Tell me about your quest,” Will’s eyes were dancing. “Tell me about where you went. What you did.”

  Will stretched out onto the grass, relaxing on his back, his shirt coming up a little. Nico’s breath hitched. “Okay.”

  And he started out with Camp Jupiter, and how he met Hazel. And how Percy showed up. And how he got sent to Tartarus.

  It was here that Nico’s storytelling sped up, and he had to lie down next to Will. He spent too much time trying to explain what it was like down there, inside that monster, and he couldn’t go on.

  “I remember… Misery. There was this lady, Misery, and she cried when she saw me, out of happiness. Kind of a contradiction. And she told me… I was perfect. My life was as miserable as it could get.”

  He stopped, closing his eyes.

  Warmth enveloped his hand, and his eyes shot open, like a jolt. He wanted to look over, but willed himself to stay in place, something jittery flashing through his body.

  Will Solace was holding his hand.

  Will Solace was holding his hand, and not letting go.

  Will Solace was _holding_ his _hand_.

  He let his heart soar.

  Will was talking, normally, casually, as if nothing was happening. The only inidcation that anything changed was that he sounded a little happier than usual.

  But Nico couldn’t hear his words.

  And everything was far, far from normal.

  Nico’s world was turned upside down, over, around-

  And everything just felt like… Like it was warm. Warm, and full of sunshine, and soft.

  He closed his eyes, basking in it all.

  “Is this… okay?” was Will’s question, a smile seeping through his voice. He loosened his hand a little. “I mean, I could always-”

  “No!” Nico clenched Will’s hand forcefully, and it stopped moving. Will started laughing. “I mean, yes. It’s okay. It’s more than okay. This is… yeah. This is good.”

  “Only good?”

  Nico mumbled something in response, and Will laughed again, lacing his fingers through Nico’s.

  And Will started to talk.

  He sat up, bringing Nico with him, and started talking about the Roman- Greek war here, and then the Titan’s War, and just about everything and nothing in general. And he scooted over so that their legs were touching, facing the water, his eyes lighting up. And Nico had to smile- he couldn’t help it- throughout this whole thing, because for once in his life, something was actually going right-

  “I’m glad you stayed. The two days after the war, I was stuck, and I couldn’t check to make sure you’d gone, because I had to take care of everyone-”

  “I thought I was going to regret it. Staying.”

  “Do you?”

  “Definitely.” Nico- he didn’t know how he got the courage- swung his legs over on top of Will’s, no longer facing the water, getting a nice view of Will’s eyes looking down at him. They looked very bright in the dark.

  “Was that a joke?” Will laughed, again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that, tonight. His smile was giddy. “Did Nico di Angelo just make a joke?”

  “Shut up. I make jokes.”

  Once more- a laugh escaped from the son of Apollo. Nico scowled, but then his body broke out into a laugh also, going against what his brain was telling him to do, and it just felt so right.  
There was a sound like something was flying overhead, and Will sighed, groaning, leaning forward so that his forehead touched against Nico’s. “Harpies,” he complained. “We have to go.”  
Nico wanted to protest, wanted to stay just for a couple more seconds, a couple more minutes, the whole night, but instead grumbled irritably and let himself be pulled up to standing position. He started to let go of Will’s hand, but the other boy held on just a little bit tighter, and Nico couldn’t supress a smile.

  “So,” Will stated, cheerfully.

  “So."

  “So."

  “Okay, that has to end. What, Will?”

  “So… you like me.”

  Nico made a noise, but didn’t deny it. Will poked him in the ribs.

  “Ow. Okay, yes. I like you.” Just saying the words made his pulse speed up, if it wasn’t a thousand miles per hour already. He broke out into a little smile.

  “And…” Will stopped, looking down at Nico, face-to-face, a beaming grin threatening to leap off his face and run off into the forest. Again, their foreheads touched.

  “I like you.”

  Nico closed his eyes, and Will inhaled sharply.

  “So that’s settled.”

  And there was movement, and maybe Nico would’ve had his first kiss right there, at the edge of the path leading out of the woods, if Chiron didn’t make the camp announcement-

  “One minute until curfew! Reminder than any campers out of bed could and would result in being eaten by harpies. One minute, everyone!”

  And they stood, suspended in silence, for just a moment, taking that information in. And before Nico lost his nerve, he kissed Will quickly on the cheek, his own cheeks burning, and ran back to his cabin, the memory tucked close to his chest, the feeling of Will’s warmth still etched into his hand.

  He would think about the other boy until he fell asleep, and the next day, Will would admit that he did the same.

  It was a nice night.

  Better than nice.

  Nico didn’t regret a thing.


End file.
